Reuters reveals Malaysia’s Proton set to expand in Southeast Asia

Li Chunrong, hired by Chinese automaker Geely to revive the fortunes of the Proton brand in Malaysia in 2017, has eclipsed Japanese giants Honda and Toyota in the home market and is now planning to take the fight across Southeast Asia and beyond. Li revealed to Reuters in an interview that Geely, which owns 49.9% of Proton, has told him to expand across the region, initially focusing on Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. Li did not give specific timeframes for expansion into individual markets, but said Proton wanted to raise overseas sales – which stood at about 1,000 cars last year, or 1% of total sales – at least four-fold this year.